Topics for this week's blog include Watergate; a departed colleague; the torture report; JQA, non-fiction reading; ebola; Erbil and oil; perceptions of Congress

Watergate. It was 40 years ago that the infamous "smoking gun" tape came to light; four days later President Nixon resigned. In an article in the Financial Times, "Watergate and the Abuse of Power: A Lesson Unlearned," Edward Morrissey discusses that scandal's lessons for the current political situation.

However, the focus on those two points ignores the hard work by Congress over more than a year to produce that evidence. Democrats started the probe into Watergate, but eventually Republicans in Congress joined them to defend the balance of power and the rule of law. One can but wonder if such bipartisan cooperation would occur today.

Frank Sferra. The phrase, "A legend in his own time," comes to mind. Frank had already been at J. K. Mullen High School for more than a few years when I joined the faculty in the fall of 1978. In those days "mentor" was not often used in reference to those long-time colleagues, but that's what Mr. S. was to so myself, many students (present and past) and other teachers.
     When I joined the faculty, Frank was well on his way to becoming legend in the National Forensic League. Under his direction, JKM's all-male teams would do very well on the state/national scene, using their new found skills to win awards and, later, to lead productive lives. When Mullen transitioned to co-ed, the speech and debate team expanded and continued to prosper.
     His wise counsel will be sorely missed.

Torture. The President has admitted that in the days immediately following 9/11 the US used torture to gain information. The phraseology "we tortured some folks" seems a bit bland, though. "Some folks"?? Now the Senate (page down in the link to the CIA story) wants to release a report of these often messy CIA activities -- except the agency has blacked out (redacted) significant aspects of the investigative report. Who ordered what, what truly useful information (if any) was obtained, etc. All of this occurred during the last days of the Bush administration. Nonetheless, what lies ahead?
     In a Wall Street Journal article, Daniel Henninger wonders about the President Obama's comment that " 'our folks' tortured 'their folks'." Does not sound terribly kosher does it? People seem less and less sure where Obama stands on a number of subjects.
     My take on his extended interview with New York Times pundit Thomas Friedman is that not many conservative readers will come away all that convinced or enlightened. Like all pundits, Friedman does not want, cannot afford, to offend; his future access demands that certain questions remain unasked. For example, one wonders where/how does the President grapple with this unspoken truth: "It's the oil, dummy." Even with our own increased oil/gas output, American drive for hegemony still demands that we somehow "control" the Middle East's oil and Russia's emergence into the European energy picture has certainly muddied the water on this score.
     In a Wall Street Journal article George Shultz, former US Secretary of State (and labor and treasury), noted, "The world is awash in change that affects us and our allies. We must recognize this...[and move our economy ahead]" He went on to make a number of common sense suggestions in that regard.

Non-fiction reading. My most recent visit to the library netted Fred Kaplan's John Quincy Admas: American Visionary. In his introduction, Kaplan notes, JQA "...is a president about whom most Americans know very little," the presidential son who also served in the Senate and House of Representatives (our sole ex- president to seek and win national office). He is not quite as lowly ranked as Buchanan or Pierce, nor Grant, Madison, Monroe and Polk. Certainly not up to Truman and McKinley, nor GW, TJ, either Roosevelt, or Lincoln." Though, like Lincoln, Kaplan rates JQA a "sharp intellect ...gifted writer in personal and public prose...also a capable poet" -- and he wrote without ghost writers.
     Kaplan goes on to note that JQA, his father, and TJ were all agreed that "government derived its legitimacy from the consent of the governed. That meant the rule of the ballot box... [and] that political parties were instruments of bad governance...manifestations of individual or group self-interest that would undermine republican government...[which] depended on civic virtue rather than personal greed. [Political] parties were organized lobbies in pursuit of power and money." Methinks all this sounds very 21st century, hence Kaplan's subtitle, "American Visionary."

Ebola. A New York Times story explains how an undiagnosed infectious disease can spread so rapidly, especially in an area where medical facilities are not "tuned in," i.e. do not recognize what they are seeing/treating. In the case of something as deadly as ebola, the ease of international travel adds a serious, very modern component to the public health equation.
     It is not just poor nations that are immune, either. A few years ago, in the American southwest, mice droppings were not at first recognized as the source of cases of the hantavirus that caused sickness and several deaths.
   
One more time, into the breech. The USAF is again on the offensive in Iraq, but one has to wonder if it is really ISIS and their threat to the Yazidis minority Christians or Kurdistan oil that is driving this new American involvement. Steve Coll's article in the New Yorker raises this question. A friend with long experience in the Middle East maintains that nothing good will happen until the corrupt Maliki government has been cast aside. Then, of course, comes the next problem, "to be replaced by whom?"

The public's view of Congress. In his morning Roll Call (8/12) blog, Stu Rothenberg has an interesting take on how/why the public holds Congress is such low esteem. Perhaps he is correct, or at least partially so.

The average voter isn’t watching Congress closely enough to know how productive it is or [isn't and] how and why members make the decisions they do, but voters seem to have strong opinions about the legislative branch of government. Where do you think voters get their views about Congress’ productivity? How do they understand how members of Congress make decisions on legislation? ....[Stu continues] I have met the enemy and it is us.

I hope your week is enjoyably productive.